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SAN ANTONIO ― Houston coach Kelvin Sampson had just started as an assistant basketball coach at Washington State when Florida basketball coach Todd Golden was born.
The year was 1985. Parachute pants were in fashion and Houston's fabled Phi Slamma Jama teams of Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon had just made back-to-back trips to the NCAA men's basketball title game, suffering losses to North Carolina State and Georgetown.
Fast-forward 40 years and the Florida Gators (35-4) will face Houston (35-4) on Monday night for the national title at the Alamodome (8:50 p.m., CBS).
Sampson, who turns 70 this October, is a coaching lifer who employs a grinding, defensive style that includes opening practice with scrums for loose balls. Houston leads the nation in scoring defense at 58.3 points per game allowed. After resigning at Indiana in 2008 due to impending NCAA sanctions, Sampson rehabilitated his career as an assistant in the NBA before taking over at Houston in 2014, where he's led the Cougars to seven NCAA Tournament trips and two Final Fours.
"They're the best defensive team in America," Golden said. "They have just a great identity as a program of just being both physically and mentally tough. That's something we've tried to pride ourselves on this year."
After Houston rallied to beat Duke in the Final Four late Saturday night, Sampson said he received a number of congratulatory texts from veteran coaches, including Tubby Smith, Tom Izzo and Greg Popovich. The message? Win one for the old guys.
"I used to come to the tournament when I was a young coach," Sampson said. "I would sit in those stands and look at the two coaches in the championship game. You think you'd like to be there one day, if you could ever get a chance.
"So, for me, it's a lot of gratitude, a lot of appreciation for having this opportunity."
Golden, who turns 40 in July, runs an exciting up-tempo offense that entered the Final Four ranked third nationally at 85.4 points per game. Under Golden, analytics play a major role UF's personnel decisions and game strategy.
Florida has been held under 70 points just once this season, in a 64-44 loss to Tennessee in which All-American senior point guard Walter Clayton Jr. went down at the end of the first half at the point guard position.
Clayton has been given free rein by Golden to score from the point guard position and is putting together an NCAA Tournament to remember, averaging 24.6 points in five NCAA Tournament games. He's also become the first player since Larry Bird in 1979 to score 30 or more points in the Elite Eight (30 points against Texas Tech) and national semifinals (34 points against Auburn).
Florida expects Houston to try to knock the 6-foot-3 Clayton around to try to throw him off his game.
"Very similar to Tennessee and Texas A&M," said Florida assistant coach Kevin Hovde, who pilots of UF's offense. "So, it's combining those two. I think that's a good blueprint for the guys because we've played those teams in the SEC so you can kind of revert back to those two teams and the concepts that made us successful."
Taking care of the ball will be critical. Houston rallied back late to beat Duke in part by stealing an inbounds pass, which has been problematic at times for UF in late-game situations. Florida has had inbounds passes late in games against UConn and Auburn but still held on to win both NCAA Tournament games.
Golden would like to get the game going up and down the floor to take advantage of UF's ability to score in transition.
"It's going to be a contrasting battle that way," Golden said. "Hopefully we can get the game up and down a little bit. They're going to impose their will as they've done on everybody this year."
Throw in the fact UF will face Houston in its home state, and the public sentiment for Sampson's redemption story, and it sets up as more adversity for an NCAA Tournament path that's been filled with landmines.
The Gators took down two-time defending champion UConn in the Round of 32, rallied from down nine points in the last four minutes to beat Texas Tech in the Elite Eight and then beat SEC regular season champion Auburn to get to Monday's national title game.
Now comes Houston, the Big 12 champs and the nation's best defense.
"It's a huge challenge for us," Golden said. "But for us to continue to put ourselves on the map and continue to get Florida basketball where we want it to be, tomorrow night is a great opportunity. We got 40 minutes for one chance to win a national championship, continue to put ourselves in that conversation."
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball, Houston take different approaches to NCAA Final
Continue reading...
The year was 1985. Parachute pants were in fashion and Houston's fabled Phi Slamma Jama teams of Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon had just made back-to-back trips to the NCAA men's basketball title game, suffering losses to North Carolina State and Georgetown.
Fast-forward 40 years and the Florida Gators (35-4) will face Houston (35-4) on Monday night for the national title at the Alamodome (8:50 p.m., CBS).
Sampson, who turns 70 this October, is a coaching lifer who employs a grinding, defensive style that includes opening practice with scrums for loose balls. Houston leads the nation in scoring defense at 58.3 points per game allowed. After resigning at Indiana in 2008 due to impending NCAA sanctions, Sampson rehabilitated his career as an assistant in the NBA before taking over at Houston in 2014, where he's led the Cougars to seven NCAA Tournament trips and two Final Fours.
"They're the best defensive team in America," Golden said. "They have just a great identity as a program of just being both physically and mentally tough. That's something we've tried to pride ourselves on this year."
After Houston rallied to beat Duke in the Final Four late Saturday night, Sampson said he received a number of congratulatory texts from veteran coaches, including Tubby Smith, Tom Izzo and Greg Popovich. The message? Win one for the old guys.
"I used to come to the tournament when I was a young coach," Sampson said. "I would sit in those stands and look at the two coaches in the championship game. You think you'd like to be there one day, if you could ever get a chance.
"So, for me, it's a lot of gratitude, a lot of appreciation for having this opportunity."
Florida basketball vs Houston a contrast in styles
Golden, who turns 40 in July, runs an exciting up-tempo offense that entered the Final Four ranked third nationally at 85.4 points per game. Under Golden, analytics play a major role UF's personnel decisions and game strategy.
Florida has been held under 70 points just once this season, in a 64-44 loss to Tennessee in which All-American senior point guard Walter Clayton Jr. went down at the end of the first half at the point guard position.
Clayton has been given free rein by Golden to score from the point guard position and is putting together an NCAA Tournament to remember, averaging 24.6 points in five NCAA Tournament games. He's also become the first player since Larry Bird in 1979 to score 30 or more points in the Elite Eight (30 points against Texas Tech) and national semifinals (34 points against Auburn).
Florida expects Houston to try to knock the 6-foot-3 Clayton around to try to throw him off his game.
"Very similar to Tennessee and Texas A&M," said Florida assistant coach Kevin Hovde, who pilots of UF's offense. "So, it's combining those two. I think that's a good blueprint for the guys because we've played those teams in the SEC so you can kind of revert back to those two teams and the concepts that made us successful."
Taking care of the ball will be critical. Houston rallied back late to beat Duke in part by stealing an inbounds pass, which has been problematic at times for UF in late-game situations. Florida has had inbounds passes late in games against UConn and Auburn but still held on to win both NCAA Tournament games.
Golden would like to get the game going up and down the floor to take advantage of UF's ability to score in transition.
"It's going to be a contrasting battle that way," Golden said. "Hopefully we can get the game up and down a little bit. They're going to impose their will as they've done on everybody this year."
Florida basketball will face a hostile environment against Houston on Monday night
Throw in the fact UF will face Houston in its home state, and the public sentiment for Sampson's redemption story, and it sets up as more adversity for an NCAA Tournament path that's been filled with landmines.
The Gators took down two-time defending champion UConn in the Round of 32, rallied from down nine points in the last four minutes to beat Texas Tech in the Elite Eight and then beat SEC regular season champion Auburn to get to Monday's national title game.
Now comes Houston, the Big 12 champs and the nation's best defense.
"It's a huge challenge for us," Golden said. "But for us to continue to put ourselves on the map and continue to get Florida basketball where we want it to be, tomorrow night is a great opportunity. We got 40 minutes for one chance to win a national championship, continue to put ourselves in that conversation."
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball, Houston take different approaches to NCAA Final
Continue reading...
